There has been an absolutely wonderful series on PBS called "The Great American Songbook" by singer and music archivist Michael Feinstein. I had watched most of the first (?) season as it was broadcast and it gave me a new and HUGE appreciation of music that was from my parents' generation (the 20s, 30s, and 40s).

Feinstein's love of all that music was so intense and deep that it was completely contagious. It is difficult to find full episodes because PBS locks their content fairly tightly, but bits and pieces are here and there. The one in particular I want to see again is the one where he shows and talks about the musician Cab Calloway.

Meanwhile here is a 5 minute clip from "The Great American Songbook" where it is shown the music videos of the MTV era were preceded 40 years earlier by a series of nearly 2000 short music films called "The Soundies".

Before MTV, there were "soundies." First appearing in 1941, these three-minute "music videos" played in famous nightclubs and restaurants everywhere, featuring many of the legendary musicians of that era and of all time. For the price of 10 cents, audiences enjoyed artists such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Louis Jordan, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway.

Hosted by Michael Feinstein, four-time Grammy nominee and one of the premiere interpreters of American song, the program also contains interviews with some of America's most famous musical and cultural icons — including Wynton Marsalis, Les Paul, George Duke, Hugh Hefner and film historian Leonard Maltin.

Soundies: Jazz, Swing, and Bebop Legends in PBS Documentary

http://youtu.be/oeSlF2VDck8

While I have been unable to locate Feinstein's episode containing his section on Cab Calloway, here is a video of Calloway doing his famous song "Minnie the Moocher" with its signature chorus "Hi Dee Hi Dee Hi Dee Ho". Feinstein pointed out that the slinky undulating movements of Calloway during his performances were as radically sexual as those of Elvis ("the pelvis") Presley many years later.

Cab Calloway - Minnie the Moocher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mq4UT4VnbE&list=PLnmamJdKunmjG9cVliBCvnXIIcv-07Zw1

In what might be called a Soundie-within-a-Soundie the super sensual body movements of Cab Calloway were mimicked in this Betty Boop cartoon of the era. Youtuber "boffyb" has cut out the non-song portions of the cartoon. It begins with live action of Calloway's sultry moves. Later on, a weird walrus type character dances in a similar Calloway fashion.

Betty Boop - Minnie the Moocher - song only

http://youtu.be/PHqjMhD04uA